On Tuesday, Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya announced that his fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) had agreed to terms for a title shot against WBC 160lb champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) on May 2nd in 2014 on Cinco de Mayo.
A lot of boxing fans assumed that the fight negotiations were nearing the end and that fight would soon be signed. However, it’s still got a ways to go before the fight is a done deal for May 2nd, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Canelo agreed to terms, but the A-aide, Cotto, still has to agree to the contract term and it could take a while before he agrees to the contract language.
“My side is done and dealt with. We have agreed. So now, I’m waiting on Bob to get their side done,” said De La Hoya said to RingTV.com. “I have no doubt in my mind that we will get Canelo-Cotto done for the May 2 of next year.”
The Cotto-Canelo fight will still likely take place on May 2nd, but there’s still a chance it may not unless Cotto likes what he sees.
The fight venue is just one of the many things that still need to be determined. It’s likely that Cotto wants the fight to take place in New York where he has a huge following. However, the likely venue for the fight will be in either Las Vegas, Nevada or Texas where the fight can pull in huge numbers.
If they stage the fight in Texas in a large stadium like the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington then they can fit a lot more fans than if they stage the fight in New York at Madison Square Garden. Texas is an ideal venue for the fight because of Canelo’s huge fan base in that stage and due to the large stadiums they can stage it.
“No, Cotto-Canelo is not agreed to, despite some overzealous reports. #notdone #notallthatcloseeither,” Rafael said.
If the Canelo-Cotto fight does take place on May 2nd on HBO pay-per-view then it’s going to put a lot of pressure on Floyd Mayweather Jr to make a decision about whether he feels he can compete with this fight on the same night.
Mayweather has been talking about wanting to fight on May 2nd as well, but in order to do that he’s going to need a big named opponent like Manny Pacquiao. Other than Pacquiao, Mayweather is going to need to think seriously about moving off the date. Amir Khan isn’t a big enough name for Mayweather to compete with the likes of Cotto-Canelo.
